


Her Boys

by TheLovelyPatronus



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Drabble, Feels, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I'm Sorry, One Shot, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 13:39:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10537614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLovelyPatronus/pseuds/TheLovelyPatronus





	

Professor McGonagall was worried. Her three favorite students had been missing for their first morning class, which happened to be transfiguration. That it was their favorite class was doubly disconcerting. 

As last night was a full moon, their absences worried her even more. They were usually at breakfast and then in class, never having missed even one. As any worried mother would attest to, the worse case scenarios were currently running rampant in her head. Had Remus injured one of them? Had they found themselves too far outside of Hogwarts grounds, unable to find their way back? Had Remus somehow gotten outside of the wards?

It was the end of February and it seemed to be getting colder rather than warming up. There was over three feet of snow on the ground and she knew in her heart, they would be unable to survive the night where temperatures dropped into the double digit negatives. If they were not in the shrieking shack then she loathed to think of where they might be.

Her heels clicked on the marble floors as her feet sped up to match the rhythm in her heart, on her way to check the Gryffindor Tower before she sent out a search party. Her heart beat frantically in her chest as she made her way to the Fat Lady’s portrait and in through the hole. The common room was empty, already a bad sign. She sometimes found them asleep on the couches in front of the fire.

Tears welled in her eyes as she clutched at her chest. It seemed her worst fears were coming true. She decided she’d check the dorms before she sent her patronus to Dumbledore, no matter how much her wand itched to send the warning ahead. She eased open the door to the 7th year dorms, bracing herself for the sight of the empty beds. She had not expected the scene that met her eyes.

There, in the bed closest to the window lay James Potter, his head hanging at an angle and spittle dripping onto his shoulder. Curled up, almost on James’ lap was Sirius Black. Dead to the world, and his thumb stuck in his mouth like a dreaming child. And finally, leaning against him was Remus Lupin, even in his sleep, he was clutching a book.

Minerva took a second to absorb the fact that her boys were safe before summoning the magical camera from her room. She had never seen them look so innocent. Anytime their eyes were open was never without a glint of mischief in their depths. They looked so precious in that moment that she could overlook the fact that they had slept through their classes. So innocent that she could almost forgive her normally stern self the momentary lapse of sentimentality.

She snapped the picture and then left the room. She wrote to all of their professors for the day, excusing them from class. After all, they had had a long night. She swore they'd never find out it was her who had then excused either. They’d never let her live it down.

That same picture still stands on her desk, to this day. A memory of her lost boys, her favorite boys, the boys who had lost so much so soon after this picture was taken. It’s was one she looked at every night, one that still brought tears to her eyes. She missed them terribly. However, this picture served another purpose. It steeled her determination to help the son of James end this bloody war if it was last thing she did. She spent the rest of the night crying into the tumbler of fire whisky, the tears mixed with the liquor as her heart broke for her four boys once again.


End file.
